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Disabled Facilities Grant for Sound proofing

NAS94466
6 days ago

Has anyone had any luck gaining a Disabled Facilities Grant as an autistic person?

I have registered with my local health group for the grant and have spoken with a person for an initial outline of what I need the grant for.

I intend to request a grant to soundproof my bedroom due to my noise sensitivity. The bedroom backs onto a park, and I have had many issues with noise disturbances over the years, from foxes barking to antisocial noise, which have greatly impacted my quality of sleep.

I was told that I would be referred to an OT for assessment and that the council would need substantial evidence of why soundproofing is needed.

I hope that others can share their news and successes/failures and also if they were able to gain evidence.

Kind regards,

Jason

  • 5 days ago

    Hello,

    I went through the assement process with my local council who then decided to let me know that soundproofing was not something they offered. My housing association then stepped in and a contractor came to apply soundproofing and move the electrics, skirting board and re-plaster the room. It has made such a difference to the sound levels and I sleep much better now. It has cost me a little space but worth it for more peace.    

  • 5 days ago in reply to Woshambo
    Woshambo said:
    I'd like to protect my neighbours from the noise my son makes

    the cheap and cheerful way is to give him a room he can be noisy in but sound proof it.

    If you have neighbours above and/or below then use foam padding on the floors / ceilings. For the walls you can use egg cartons (the big square trays) and foam.

    Essentially hard surfaces allow the sound waves to travel through the walls / floors / ceilings so by using something with lots of air pockets then the sound waves get disrupted and don't get out.

    Windows can be the weak point but possibly creating a wood and foam panel that sits over the window would work.

  • 5 days ago in reply to Iain

    I was hoping to get sound proofing for the opposite issue. I'd like to protect my neighbours from the noise my son makes

  • 6 days ago

    Hello Jason, have you tried earplugs as an interrim measure? It is likely to be a long, slow and troublesome process to get your request considered so this may offer some respite.

    To get the grant the evidence you will need will come from your therapist and/or GP - they need to confirm that your sensitivity to the noise is serious enough to merit the change. This will requite a formal autism diagnosis if you don't already have one.

    You may also need to have a sound measuring device to see if the noise levels are high enough to justify as noise pollution. I think 85 decibels is the threshold over which it is considered noisy enough to be serious if it is for a sustained period.

    If this can be established (seems a little unlikely from your description of the occassional sounds) then I would speak to the council and ask how they can gather proof. It may involve installing a recording device in the room for a few days to measure abient noise.

    Possible soltions would be a mix of triple glazing (quite expensive), secondary double glazing (cheaper) or acoustic insulation on the walls (quite expensive as it involves a lot of work to move cornicing, skirting, heating, electrical points etc plus redecorating).